Millbank Riot: Police Poorly Prepared

The student protests at Millbank have been running for a couple of hours now. Pictures from the scene in Westminster show windows smashed, fires lit and rioters on the roof of the building.

Protesters are phoning the television news channels on their mobiles and attempting to justify the trashing of the building that houses the Conservative Party’s headquarters. It’s a tiny minority out to cause trouble says the NUS, which is campaigning against coalition plans for a steep increase in tuition fees. No, turn on the television, there are hundreds involved and many hundreds more cheering them on outside the building.

But when this is all over, the police are going to have some serious questions to answer. Those in charge at Scotland Yard seemed badly prepared for today’s student protests.

Of course an attack on Millbank couldn’t have been anticipated, but in the heart of the capital and a brick’s throw from the Palace of Westminster, they should surely have been capable of mobilizing at greater speed and with much more force following the outbreak of trouble.

Initially, a tiny group of officers was pictured bravely attempting to hold back hundreds of marauding students but they were overwhelmed. It then appeared to take a long time for reinforcements to arrive. The Tactical Support Group has now turned up, and it is reported that they are making arrests and attempting to clear the building.

The muppets smashing up Millbank are to blame, of course. But in the police’s planning something has gone wrong.